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Rising activism marks this Earth Day: Tittel

Young people are starting to lead the charge. They are the first generation to be victims of climate change, and the impacts we are all seeing today is their new normal. They are getting involved in a way not seen since the first Earth Day 50 years ago.

As we look toward Earth Day on Monday, we recall how the activism of the first Earth Day in 1970 led to the creation of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, and the formation of the EPA. Students and people are again becoming active because of the urgency of climate change.

Climate change is happening and it’s worse than we thought. All across New Jersey and the nation people are stepping up to fight the growing threat. Students, activists and communities of all sizes are becoming more active, providing the leadership on climate change that Washington will not.

In March an estimated 1.6 million students around the world skipped school or walked out in “climate strikes” to protest global inaction on climate change. More than 2,000 protests were held in 125 countries. In New Jersey climate strikes were held in Morristown, Montclair, Mahwah and Princeton.

The Green New Deal has served as a rallying cry for young people, an aspirational plan setting strong goals moving us forward nationally on climate change. The Green New Deal calls for modernizing transportation infrastructure, de-carbonizing manufacturing and agricultural sectors, and making homes and buildings more energy-efficient.

Earth Day, April 22(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

President Donald Trump and the right-wing echo chamber continue to attack the Green New Deal with outrageous lies such as prohibiting cow ownership and banning air travel. Trump is a climate denier who calls it a Chinese hoax. .

Trump’s war on the environment has placed responsibility on all of us to carry the climate fight. Climate change is already damaging the planet. Last year was the fourth hottest on record. Oceans are warming 40 percent faster than previously thought, generating more extreme weather. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives us 12 years to reduce carbon emissions before the worst effects of climate change become irreversible.

New Jersey residents worry about climate damage, and the potential impact of 13 proposed power plants and pipelines. Those projects would raise greenhouse gases 32 percent. We are 17 times more likely to experience another storm like superstorm Sandy. Flooding at high tides and under full moons is worsening. The Green New Deal complements our work with the Empower NJ coalition calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to place a moratorium on all fossil-fuel infrastructure projects.

Grassroots activism can play a critical role in stopping unneeded and dangerous projects. Activists in Ocean, Monmouth and Burlington counties continue fighting for a moratorium on fossil-fuel projects that would halt work on the Southern Reliability Link pipeline in the Pinelands. The public has already helped stop the re-opening of the B.L. England power plant that would have been fueled by a South Jersey Gas pipeline cutting across the Pinelands. Activists in Hunterdon and Mercer counties have risen against the PennEast pipeline.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club,. "We saved the Pinelands 35 years ago because we wanted to make sure it didn't become a mini-Levittown. Now with these rule changes, we're going to create these mini-Levittowns around the Pinelands," Tittel said.(Photo: BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

When our young leaders lead, leaders will follow, and many state leaders are continuing to stand up for our environment. Twenty states, including New Jersey, plus Puerto Rico, have joined the United States Climate Alliance, committing to climate objectives of the 2015 Paris Accords from which Trump withdrew the nation.

Individual communities can play a significant leadership role in moving aggressively toward renewable energy. Livingston, N.J., recently reached 100 percent green energy, one of only a handful of communities nationwide to do so.

Many large cities have ambitious renewable energy goals. Los Angeles has plans to achieve zero waste by 2025. Cleveland, Ohio wants to produce 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022, and 25 percent by 2030. Austin, Tex. hopes to make its municipal operations carbon-neutral by next year.

This Earth Day we are seeing a new commitment that could lead to important climate legislation and the Green New Deal becoming a reality.